Netflix does streaming deal with BBC for UK and Ireland

Back towards the end of October we told you that popular streaming service Netflix was planning on launching in the UK and Ireland in 2012. Today we have news that Netflix has agreed a streaming deal with the BBC for the UK and Ireland.

The online movie service from Netflix has inked a deal with BBC Worldwide, which according to The Guardian will see popular shows such as Doctor Who, Little Britain, and Top Gear being shown. This new agreement will also see Netflix streaming other big shows such as Torchwood, Fawlty Towers, and Miss Marple.

Subscribers to the service will have access to content from six months after they were first broadcast on the TV. This agreement comes after similar deals were struck with the likes of Miramax, as the US based Netflix looks to launch in the UK and Ireland during the early part of 2012.

Ted Sarandos of Netflix said in a statement that over twenty million subscribers of the service already enjoy content from the BBC, and added “We are incredibly proud to make these high-quality programmes available to Netflix members in the UK and Ireland”.

There were no financial details of the deal revealed by either company, and BBC Worldwide has similar agreements from a variety of other service providers. These include the likes of BlinkBox, BT Vision, and Virgin Media.

Meanwhile Steve Macallister from BBC Worldwide said “UK audiences have really grasped the experience that online viewing can bring, and our programming has proven to be particularly popular with this digital audience”. Netflix will be going head to head with Lovefilm in the UK, which is owned by Amazon but doesn’t have a deal with BBC Worldwide.